1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to sheets for printing in office printers, such as laser, inkjet and thermal transfer printers, and specifically to a printable sheet having lines of weakness which define the boundaries of a removable portion and other lines of weakness defining fold lines within the removable portion; wherein the sheet is custom printed and the removable portion thereof is ultimately formed into a three-dimensional structure that displays the custom printing.
2. Background of the Invention
One way large businesses advertise themselves is with pre-printed three dimensional structures made of cardstock. The structures typically have information printed on them, such as the name, address and phone number of the business. Such structures can also be used to convey information, such as highlighting dinner specials on a restaurant table. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,794,024, 4,319,418 and 3,730,818 generally provide examples of this type of structure.
When used to convey information, such structures are typically printed at a commercial printer and are quite expensive, as there is normally a setup charge for preparing the press to print the desired design, as well as charges to have the three dimensional structures assembled. The process is generally cost-prohibitive to small businesses that desire a small number of custom-printed structures.
One attempt has been made to create custom-printed pinwheels utilizing a standard sheet of paper and a desktop printer. The user enters information into a computer program, which then causes a design to be printed on the sheet of paper. After printing, the user cuts the design from the sheet of paper, and forms the paper into a pinwheel. This approach is awkward, however. The user must cut the design with scissors, which frequently results in imperfectly cut designs. To get a single, perfectly-cut design, some users would likely be required to print the design over and over again until the user happened to cut the design without error.
Furthermore, once the user has successfully cut the design from the sheet with scissors, the user must then adhere the sheet together with glue or tape, which is time consuming. Additionally, glue has a tendency to be messy, and extra glue on the printed surface will make the printed surface appear to be messy. Adhesive tape, while less messy than glue, detracts from the overall appearance of the printed surface.